Skip to main content

tv   Democracy Now  WHUT  November 8, 2012 6:00pm-7:00pm EST

6:00 pm
>> from new york, this is "democracy now!" >> we believe in a generous america, and a compassionate america, and a tolerant america open to the dreams of an immigrant's daughter who studies in our schools and pledges to our flag. >> president obama gives a nod to dream act activists in his victory speech as latino voters turned out in record numbers to help obama win reelection. we will speak with juan gonzalez about the latino vote and the nation's changing demographics. >> were talking about 11 million to 12 million people that are undocumented in the united states. i think the extreme -- the most extreme right of the republican party understands that if 11 million to 12 million people are able to legalize their status and become a voters, it will
6:01 pm
change the political landscape of america for decades to come. >> we will also discuss puerto rico. for the first time, the majority of the island's voters supported a non-binding referendum to become a full u.s. state. we will speak with the nation magazine's john nichols president of his new mandate for the next four years. all of that and more coming up. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president obama return to the white house on wednesday hours after his convincing win over republican challenger mitt romney in the 2012 election. aides say obama has immediately turned to the so-called fiscal cliff of $700 billion in expiring tax cuts and automatic spending reductions set to take effect at the end of the year. under the terms of last year's debt deal, obama and senate democrats must agree on a
6:02 pm
deficit reduction package with house republicans or face automatic cuts that will likely contract the economy. on wednesday, both senate majority leader harry reid and house speaker john boehner pledged to negotiate in good faith. >> the american people want us to work together. republicans and democrats want us to work together. they want a balanced approach to everything, but especially the situation we have dealing with this huge deficit and taxes that are part of that. >> there is an alternative to going over the fiscal cliff. it involves making real changes to the financial structure of entitlement programs and reforming our tax code to curb special interest loopholes and deductions. by working together and creating a simpler, cleaner tax code, we give our country a stronger, healthier economy. >> powerful winter storm again has blasted the northeast, bringing wet snow and strong
6:03 pm
winds to areas already devastated by last week's superstorm sandy. tens of thousands of homes and businesses lost power along the east coast from the carolinas to new york on wednesday, joining the more than half a million customers who still remain without power in sandy's wake. concerns were raised the storm could relief -- threatening relief effort in some of the hardest-hit polls. meanwhile, the death toll from superstorm sandy in the u.s. and canada has risen to 121 after the death of an elderly man who was found unresponsive at the bottom of a wet and dark stairwell in rockaway, queens freed on wednesday, new york city mayor michael bloomberg warned sandy may have weakened defenses against potential flooding. >> because of today's storm, coastal areas face a risk of some flooded into 6:00 a.m. tomorrow morning and the national weather service warns there could be some major flooding in spots already eroded by sandy. the difference here is the
6:04 pm
barriers of sand or rocked that were there before perhaps are not there. we have not and will not order the large-scale evacuation we did in advance of hurricane sandy, but if you are experiencing significant flooding during sandy, you should consider taking shelter with friends and family are using one of the city's storm shelters. >> at least 40 people have been killed in an earthquake off of guatemala's pacific coast. most of the victims were killed in the northwestern state of san marcos, which saw heavy damage. lawmakers in greece have approved a new round of austerity cuts amidst massive protests. on wednesday, the greek parliament narrowly backed a $13.5 billion austerity package featuring tax hikes and pension cuts -- greece's's fourth austerity package in three years. more than 100,000 people took to the streets of athens to oppose the measure, capping a three-day strike and staging greece's largest protest since august.
6:05 pm
the protest ended in clashes with police firing tear gas to disperse the crowd. turkey has unveiled plans to ask that nato deploy patriot missiles along its border with syria. the move would effectively create a no-fly zone over the turkey-syrian border. the move comes as syria is seeing some of its worst violence to date, with reports of dozens, if not hundreds, of deaths over the past week. at the united nations, undersecretary general for political affairs warned that syria is headed toward self destruction. >> the current path will lead syria to its destruction. clearly, there is a need to shift away from the military logic that is prevailing at the moment. the solution must be arrived for a political process. and it has to be a syrian-led process. it cannot be imposed, it must
6:06 pm
bring real change, and a clean break from the past. >> bahrain has revoked its citizenship of 31 opposition activists for having allegedly "undermined state security." the list includes two former members of parliament with a rain's main opposition party. and the son of a prominent opposition activist who's serving life behind bars. the move comes days after the u.s.-backed bahrain monarchy bland -- banned all protests and gatherings following a wave of demonstrations. terrain is accused of current -- breathing is a key u.s. government ally, hosting the navy's fifth fleet. please say lawrence jones executed two co-workers in california and when did to others before taking his own life. the california man behind an anti islam video that sparked local protest has been sentenced to a year in prison. and wednesday, he was ordered to
6:07 pm
spend 12 months behind bars for violating the terms of his probation from a prior conviction following a 2010 check fraud conviction, he was not allowed to use the internet. under the alias of sam basseley, he produced the "innocence of muslims" which produced outrage in muslim countries after been circulated online. hundreds of people gathered at the university of mississippi wednesday to denounce racism on campus. it was one day after heated protest against president obama's re-election. after the results were announced tuesday night, a crowd of several hundred gathered in anger with some reportedly shouting racial slurs. at least two people were arrested. with the 2012 election in the books, the price tag for combined spending by federal candidates, their parties and outside groups like super pacs totals more than $6 billion.
6:08 pm
the election's biggest private donor, casino billionaire shuttlsheldon adelson, saw nones eight candidates win their elections, despite him spending more than $53 million. although president obama secured the electoral college with a wide majority, his total may increase once final results are in from florida. with counting still underway, obama is leading romney in florida by board than 49,000 votes. -- by more than 49,000 votes. california has officially cancelled a planned college tuition hike following the passage of a tax increase in the statewide ballot. california voters approved proposition 30, which imposes a $6 billion temporary tax hike in order to avoid massive cuts to spending on education. california's sales tax will rise by a quarter cent for four years while individuals making over $250,000 a year will pay higher rates over seven years. the measure passed with an overwhelming turnout from young
6:09 pm
voters, an outgrowth of the widespread protests against tuition hikes on california campuses last year. the average tuition cost for full-time students will remain at the same rate as last year. advocates for marijuana reform are preparing for a showdown with the federal government following historic victories in colorado and washington. voters in both states approved measures legalizing marijuana for recreational use, the first time ever that has been achieved by popular vote. the justice department is reviewing the ballot measures and is widely expected to challenge their implementation. on tuesday, marijuana reform activists in colorado and washington said they hope to provide a model for the rest of the country. >> colorado rejected the failed policy of marijuana prohibition and made a positive step for toward regulating this product, taking it off the streets of putting it behind the counters and taxing it. we feel colorado can be a model
6:10 pm
for the nation and how to sensibly regulate marijuana policy. >> today, the state of washington said it is time for a new approach. >> tuesday's election was historic for women who come january, will hold 20 out of the 100 seats in the u.s. senate, the largest number ever. tuesday's elections of 5 the women elected to the senate. in addition to elizabeth warren and tammy baldwin, and democratic congress member mazie hirono was elected in hawaii, becoming the first asian- american woman elected to the senate. also, the first woman elected from hawaii. this in its first buddhist and the first u.s. senator born in japan -- fukushima, japan.
6:11 pm
the other new women senators are republican nebraska state senator deb fischer and former north dakota attorney general heidi heitkamp. and those are some of the headlines. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. two weeks before the election of president obama privately revealed one of the essential factors to his re-election -- the latino vote. in a conversation with editors at the des moines register, obama said -- obama was right. latino voters turned out in record numbers on tuesday and exit polls show obama won 71% of the latino vote. mitt romney won just 27%, less than any presidential candidates published any republican candidate in 16 years. in 2004, george w. bush won 44%
6:12 pm
of the latino vote. for the first time, latinos made up more than 10% of the nation's electorate. obama's a one huge margins of african-american and asian- american voters. on wednesday, senate majority leader harry reid called the democrats the party of diversity. and vowed to bring up an immigration reform bill next year. he said republicans continue to oppose immigration reform, it's at their peril. meanwhile on the state level, maryland voters affirmed the dream act on tuesday, allowing undocumented immigrants to receive in-state tuition. to talk more about the latino vote, we're joined by "democracy now!" co-host and new york daily news columnist juan gonzalez. he is author of a number of books including, "harvest of empire: a history of latinos in america." the groundbreaking book was recently told -- turned into a full-length documentary by the same title. he is at home recuperating from
6:13 pm
back surgery. he has a herniated disk. he joins us by videostream from his home in washington heights. welcome back to "democracy now!" >> one correction, i had a herniated disk. i hope it is repaired as a result of the surgery. i hope to be back at work possibly by next week >> we wish you the very best. even from your bed, you have been watching the elections and participated with us on our election night special. talk about the significance of the latino vote in the 2012 election. >> as you mentioned, president obama and his campaign strategists from the very beginning were intent on repeating or bringing back the grand coalition that was created in 2008. many people were expecting or be less enthusiasm or less ability
6:14 pm
of his campaign to do that. that turned out to be false. in fact, there is no doubt now that the demographic changes in the nation are really going to force anyone involved in political organizing in the future to transform the way they looked at who their supporters are, because the reality is, the number of latinos who voted -- and it looks most likely it will be a 2 million increase over the 9.7 million that voted in 2004. which is self, was a 2 million increase the-i'm sorry, in 2008. that was a 2 million increase over 2004. the latino electorate for the presidential election has gone from about 6% to 10%. that is going to continue to increase because the census figures show about 500,000
6:15 pm
latinos will turn 18 in the united states every year for the next 20 years. that share the electorate will continue to grow providing president obama was able -- especially in the last year were two because of his much anger in the latino community over the record deportations that occurred under his administration, but in the last year or two, he began to adopt policies especially with the temporary status for the dreamers, that really galvanized and mobilized the young latinos across the country to engage much more so in this election. i think the growth of the latino population is not only astounding in terms of the voting, but will continue to be a reality in political life. >> i want to go back to june when president obama issued that
6:16 pm
order, lifting the threat of deportation for hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants who came to the u.s. as children. >> these are young people standing in our schools, they play in our neighborhoods, their friends with our kids, they pledge allegiance to our flag. they are americans in their heart, in their minds, and every single way but one -- on paper. they were brought to this country by their parents, sometimes even as infants. and often have no idea that they are undocumented until they apply for a job or a driver's license or a college scholarship. put yourself in their shoes. imagine you have done everything right your entire life. let's be clear, this is not amnesty. this is not immunity.
6:17 pm
this is not a path to citizenship. it is not a permanent fix. this is a temporary stopgap measure. >> let's contrast that with mitt romney's comments about self deportation during the republican primary debate in january. he was asked if he would not deport immigrants, how would he send them home? >> the answer is self deportation. people decide they can do better ey going home because they they do not have legal documentation to allow them to work here. we will not round people up. people who have come here illegally will be given the opportunity during the transition period to work here, but when that is over, they would no longer have the documentation to allow them to work in this country. at that point, they can decide whether to remain or return home and apply for legal residency in the united states, get in line with everybody else.
6:18 pm
>> juan gonzalez, your response about the significance of this and these approaches when it came to the election? >> he moniker that was attached to romney, much as the 47% remark, was the one in the general population that stuck with him and outraged folks. this idea that people would elect to self deport themselves was so absurd and was so clear that romney felt she kept hedging, even during the general election, to say he would move toward a humane immigration policy in the country. i think that was a critical -- it is not just a question of the undocumented, but every latino knows or does some in their family or someone close to them who is facing the threat of possible deportation because
6:19 pm
they are undocumented in this country. this is really an issue that doesn't just affect the immigrants, but the entire latino, more than 50 million latinos in the united states today. i think that really was the key issue. for instance, the latino support for obama increased from 67% in 2008, went to 71% in 2012. i think that is the critical thing to understand that this new coalition that obama has put together -- remember, he received 76% support among asian-americans. the republican party, in 1968 began adopting its infamous strategy, moving away with democrats in the south and what workers in the north who were troubled or have difficulty accepting racial integration in the schools and colleges, and
6:20 pm
the southern strategy that has been there with operating for the past 50 years has ended. it is over. one exit poll shows among latinos this week, 57% of -- have identified themselves as republicans, 20% self identify themselves as independent, and only 14% to identify themselves as republican. the republican party -- there are more independent latinos now than in the republican party, and that is the sector of the population that is growing faster and will for the longest period of time over this -- most of this century, a list demographically. >> i want to play a comet -- >> this now requires -- resistancea lot less
6:21 pm
to some kind of immigration reform from the republican party as those republicans like the bush brothers, who had always understood the necessity for the republican party to survive by making inroads into the latino community, it will seek the republican party reassert itself in an attempt to fashion some kind of an immigration reform proposal. now it is a question of whether the president can keep together his dollars the rest of the democratic party to fashion something sometime in the coming years. >> i want the comment by mario lopez, president of the hispanic leadership find and former member of the republican national committee's hispanic advisory board. mike burke interviewed him at the national at the republican national convention in tampa in august. >> a few moments ago we interviewed the mayor of los angeles, and he criticized mitt
6:22 pm
romney and his stance on immigration, specifically about his call for self deportation of undocumented immigrants. your take on that? >> we know from the polling data that immigration is important and i think mitt romney is showing he is a tremendous amount of respect for hispanic voters across the country. there are a record number of participating in elected officials at the convention. had a before had they haone large number of representatives participating in the convention, so i think that is something to look for it to. we also know the most important topic on everyone's mind is the economy. hispanic unemployment is up 2 to 3 points higher than the general population. that is unacceptable. hispanics are hard hit by obama's.
6:23 pm
>> that was mario lopez, president of the hispanic leadership. your response? >> what they are going to have this time around is, as a result of the latino vote, you're going have many more hispanic representatives. republican and democrat. we have three latino senators in the u.s. senate in the country with the victory of ortiz, a republican t partyer in taxes, and marco rubio, the republican in florida and bob menendez, democrat in new jersey. all three are keeping american. and all three are very conservative on foreign policy. some domestic policies, they will find ortiz and rubio will
6:24 pm
slightly lead some of the charge in the republican ranks in the senate to adopt some kind of comprehensive immigration reform. i think the time has come for the country to do comprehensive reform. as i have said many times over the last year or two, immigration reform is going to change the politics of the nation just by the nature of who eventually becomes or is able to regularize their status and be able to vote. it was ronald reagan in 1986 who signed into law the last comprehensive immigration reform, which allowed about 3 million people to regularize their status -- most of them hispanic. within five years, those people were able to vote. effecting much of what happened in the clinton era in terms of what was happening in democratic resurgence.
6:25 pm
i think this time around, we're talking 11 million to 12 million people. immigration reform is accomplished next year, did you can assume within five, six, seven years many of those people will then be able to enter the political arena as citizens, as voters, and that will have amazing ramifications for politics at the local and national level in the united states. >> i want to play for you what bill o'reilly had to say about the outcome of the election on fox. >> what is your sense of the evening? you look at the exit polls -- >> if mitt romney loses in ohio, the president is reelected. >> how do you think we got to that point was to president obama's approval rating was so low, and this is hypothetical because we do not know who is even winning, never mind who
6:26 pm
won, but how do you think it got this tight? >> it is a changing country. it is not a traditional america anymore. there are 50% of the voting public who want stuff. they want things. who is going to give them things quest toward president obama. he knows it and he ran on it. and where by 20 years ago, president obama would have been defeated by an establishment candidate like mitt romney. the white establishment is now the minority. the voters, many of them, feel the economic system is stacked against them and they want stuff. you'll see a tremendous hispanic vote for president obama. overwhelming black vote for president obama and women will probably go president obama's way. people feel that they are entitled to things. and which candidate between the
6:27 pm
two is going to give them things? >> bill o'reilly on fox, on election night. they want stuff. very much reminiscent of mitt romney's 47%, it. >> as if all of those corporate leaders and folks who bankroll the romney campaign did not want stuff. repatriate all of the [indiscernible] that they cannot bring back to the united states without paying federal income taxes, which is the great secret of the wealthy america. but that is a thing they want the most, all the money they have in offshore accounts that they cannot bring back to the u.s. because they would have to pay taxes and they're hoping for an amnesty from the new administration to be able to repatriate those billions and trillions of dollars. they do not want stuff, they just want -- it is strange how the language is explained for
6:28 pm
different sectors of society. >> this sounds like the spokesperson for empire as he watches its demise. >> speaking of empire, and what to talk a little bit about what is happening in puerto rico, which i think is -- >> if you would not mind, we're going to take a break and then come back puerto rico to puerto rico. we're talking to "democracy now!" juan gonzalez juan, at home recuperating from back surgery. when we come back, the non- binding referendum that took place on election night. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. after we speak with juan gonzalez, we will be joined by john nichols in wisconsin to talk about the next four years. ♪ [music break]
6:29 pm
6:30 pm
>> this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. "democracy now!" co-host juan gonzalez is home, recuperating from back surgery. juan, i want to ask about puerto rico. for the first time in their history, a majority of the island's voters supported a non- binding referendum to become a full u.s. state. the measure requiring approval from u.s. congress, the president obama has said he will respect the vote. he made the same promise last revisited the island, become the first sitting u.s. president and half a century to do so. >> because when i ran for president, i promised to include puerto rico, not just on my itinerary, but also in my vision of where our country needs to go. i am proud to say that we have kept that promise, too. first of all, we have addressed
6:31 pm
the question of political status. in march, the report from our presidential task force provided a meaningful way forward on this question so that the residents of the island can determine their own future. [cheers] and the people of puerto rico make a clear decision, my administration will stand by you. >> that was president obama speaking in puerto rican last year. juan gonzalez, talk about the significance of the vote that took place and what president obama has said about respecting the vote. >> i think the significance is that puerto rico is still grappling with its status as the last major colony of the united states. and this referendum is just another step along the road, but it is not quite as clear-cut as
6:32 pm
they are making out to be. puerto rico has a very convoluted relationship politically with the u.s., so the parties there operate a little differently. first of all, once again, record turnouts in puerto rico with 85% of the people voting, much higher than the united states. for those of you who worry about long lines, and puerto rico, the day before the election is a holiday, the date of the election is a holiday, in the day after the election is a holiday. it is a three-day holiday in puerto rico. it gives people plenty of time to organize and turn out their votes. the results here on the referendum are double-edged. on the one hand, the referendum was in to the stages this time. this was not authorized by congress but in that sense, it was the people of puerto rico sending a message to congress.
6:33 pm
the first part of the amendment said, are you satisfied with the current status or do you want to change the status? in that part of the -- in that part, those who wanted to change won decisively. 900,000 people, about 54% of those voting, said they were not satisfied with the current status. but there was a second stage which said, which status would you prefer? in essence, the choices for statehood, which has always been a truism is referendums, and a new definition called a sovereign free associated state. not the commonwealth that now exists, but some nebulous, and a new entity.
6:34 pm
there were three choices. you had about 800,000 people who voted for statehood. 437,000 voted for this free associated sovereign state. but another 468,000 cast blank ballots and then had 72,000 the voted for independence. so when the reports are telling you that statehood won, statehood won a majority of those who cast a choice, but there's a huge number who voted no because the commonwealth party, the existing commonwealth party in puerto rico, oppose the way the pro-statehood governor had to prepare the referendum soak it urged its members to cast blank ballots. there were actual four choices. there were those who would for
6:35 pm
statehood, those when for the new free associate of republic, i'm sorry, free associated state with sovereignty, those who went for the old commonwealth, and those who went for independence. the independents -- the statehood people said for the first time, statehood is not a majority but those in the other side say, no, when you add up free associated states, the blank ballots, [indiscernible] to throw another wrinkle into the whole situation, the pro- statehood party which proposed this referendum was swept out of office. the governor was voted out of office. the majority in the senate was voted out of office. the majority of the city -- the mayors were voted out. it looks like the lower house of puerto rico loss of the of the
6:36 pm
commonwealth party. the new governor, because the governor who tried to bring in the gas line, the governor who waged the battles against the students at the university of puerto rico and fought the labor unions, he is out. he was the one who proposed this referendum. what exactly is going happen now is the new governor, who was hostile to even this process the fortuño chose, remains to be seen. >> juan, as you look at what is happening right now in this country, what was colonized by the protests of years ago, the mass made a protests, the young dreamers sitting in president of bennis campaign offices and other senators and campaigthe us that went to the democratic national convention more people were also arrested demanding a
6:37 pm
fair, russia, comprehensive immigration policy. -- rational, comprehensive immigration policy. what you think will happen now? the supposedly is a lot of soul- searching in the republican party because there were so badly beaten. what is the shape of policy you see? what are the issues that must be hit to make a comprehensive, satisfactory policy in this country? >> i think what you're seeing -- i'm glad you mention the 2006 protests. i said back then that was the coming of age of the latino community in the united states, that series of protests. i am willing to bet a months pay that every one of these elections at the local level across the country this week, the young latinos that were involved with organizing the campaigns, that many of them
6:38 pm
were participants in those protests and were really inspired to get into political activity as a results of the immigrant protest in 2006, and the frustration they felt was six years passing and nothing has been changed in immigration. hopefully, what will come of this new coalition is not only a coalition of people [indiscernible] those in the past, whether there were union workers or women were poor or african-american, latinos, asians, that not only have they twice not elected a president, but now that the policy that our new administration in congress adopt, speak to those people. and provide the basic needs and
6:39 pm
and the gap in income inequality and the constant favoritism of government of the wealthy contributors. that will be the big challenge. will open a who moved to the left once again to get reelected, what is he going to do now that he is in the position of another four years? >> juan gonzalez, thank you so much for being with us. i also want to encourage folks, if you have ever been have everjuan is going through, back surgery with a herniated disk in a pinched nerve, send us what was most successful in helping ease the pain at -- at sotriesrgsotri
6:40 pm
@democracynow.org. juan gonzalez's book is, "harvest of empire: a history of latinos in america." we wish you well. i hope to see you here next week. when we come back, we're going to talk about the next four years with president obama and what these elections have met with john nichols from "the nation" magazine. stay with us. ♪ [music break]
6:41 pm
>> this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. to talk more about president obama is re-election, we're joined from wisconsin by john nichols. his latest piece, "for obama, a bigger win than for kennedy, nixon, carter or bush." >> i think that is the thing that people have to wrap their
6:42 pm
heads around a bit and not just talking about karl rove running around in the studio at fox tried to figure out why all this hundreds of millions of dollars went awry, but i'm talking about progressives. indeed, president obama himself. so much of this election was framed on the notion that if president obama was reelected, he would have to claw his way to victory and it would be a very narrow thing -- up all night probably when we spoke on thursday morning after the election, we would still be uncertain about the results. that is not the case. when all the votes are counted, president obama will have one a popular vote margin of more than 3 million -- probably quite a bit more than 3 million. and when ford is finished -- it is a mess down there -- probably he will have roughly 332 electoral votes. those victories, more than 3 million popular votes, are
6:43 pm
bigger than what john kennedy came in with, bigger than richard nixon came in with, bigger than when jimmy carter came in with, and bigger than what george bush had in 2000 or what george bush had in 2004. i will remind folks, after that 2004 election, george bush stood before the american people and said he put his platform out there, people embraced it, and he had political capital to spend. i think it is very vital that president obama understand that he has not scraped his with a victory. he got a win. he ought to take that populist language, the progressive language at the close of his campaign and make it much more central to his politics. unfortunately, this president has far too much of a tendency to compromise so that is why the second part of the question is progressives need to understand -- the question is progressives
6:44 pm
should understand the pressure this president to respond to what generally can be referred to as a mandate to make sure social security, medicaid are protected, to do humane and genuine immigration reform, to do tax reforms that really to shift the burden to the wealthy. all of these things can be central to a program, but it cannot work if the president -- even the president's supporters -- thinks he narrowly won the election. >> so let's talk about this issue of a mandate for president obama. first, i want to go to charles krauthammer who spoke on fox news election night. >> if he gets the majority of the popular vote, it will be very small, if any. even in the electro, i think it is one of the rather small majority, particularly virginia, florida will go to romney. this is not a mandate either with the numbers or in the way
6:45 pm
that he campaigned. he did not campaign on any ideas, anything large or important. he did not address entitlements or things like that. what would he do? i think he will go back to who he is. people have said he should be a clinton and compromise and have a successful second term. but he is not instinctively a moderate. i think is a man of the left and will try to push through his agenda with what he thinks is a mandate. i think we're on exactly where we were, say, a year ago with the debt ceiling argument, next year. the problem is, the country will slide right through a second term because i don't see give on either side, a particularly with the president with the very weak mandate for a second term. >> that was fox contributor charles krauthammer, widely reported that president obama after his victory call john boehner, the house speaker, as well as senator mcconnell, the
6:46 pm
senate minority leader, and both said they were sleeping in could not talk. >> this is the big theme of the republican right, a media echo chamber. this election, as haley barbour, the former governor of mississippi and former rnc chair said, pretty close to a tie. they love that concept that president of images nearly one. again, i emphasize that sometimes elections are best understood a day later or even two days later. washington state on the west coast is still in the process of counting votes. that only counted about 57% of their vote. that is a very democratic state. that is still piling on popular votes for obama. i do not want to sit and suggests that president obama is a perfect progressive. i don't actually charles krauthammer at all when he says barack obama is a man of the
6:47 pm
left. he may well have read many of the books of the left and that many people from the left, but my sense is that barack obama is a centrist and tended to be a very centrist presidents and troubling, frankly, on military issues as well as, frankly, the entitlement reform or he often has been too soft. what i want to emphasize is this president went before the american people and the election was framed very much as a referendum on austerity, on cuts to medicare, medicaid and social security, to a real radical reshaping of the country as pressured by an outlined by paul ryan. the important thing to understand is the american people understood that choice, and they voted for barack obama. they also voted for two more democratic senators. the senate will be much more
6:48 pm
progressive than it was in the last senate. in the states, the elected at least six democratic governors, potentially a seventh for washington state. they shifted state legislature the state of maine going from a republican-controlled legislature to a very democratic legislature. new york state, legislative shipped along with many others. the bottom line, in this election that was frank in many ways as a choice of austerity, people rejected it. it is very important that it be understood that this was not a to close to call election. president obama has a mandate from the american people to push back against a right-wing economic. he must. the problem is, i am not sure he will do that. i'm not sure he will do that as efficiently. i am most concerned perhaps that progressives will not fully recognize that. that they have a power to make
6:49 pm
real demand on this president. i was in a union hall on election not in toledo, ohio with the teamsters. these trade unionists, white working-class folks, african- americans, hispanics. when the news came, they announced "brothers, sisters, our president of the united states has been reelected." they understood what that meant to them. that many pro-labor, pro-public education, pro-serve as president of the u.s. obama should serve as that and those who have elected him should make that demand on him. >> let's talk about the other power. you have organized people and then organized money. can you talk about referenda on citizens united around the country, john? >> it is really exciting. one of the things that a lot of the pundits will tell us, this is an election that showed you can be money.
6:50 pm
big money does not really matter. karl rove today will have to have some sort of conference calls were he explains to the billing errors wives that things did not work out as well as he told them they would. that can be reassuring in one sense. we can say, well, boots on the ground did do better. it is true. there were many elections this year were candidates who have less money won the election. but the bottom line to understand, tammy baldwin will tell you this, brown will tell you, candidates who won races had to spend six, seven, eight hours on the phone, begging for money. this money and politics problem is a crisis. is a crisis the matter what the final result. you may be able to collier with a victory, but do not think it is not a real problem. the people understand that. in montana and colorado, they have referendums on whether those -- they should encourage a
6:51 pm
constitutional amendment to overturn citizens united. the results are very encouraging, not just in those states, the cities across the country people voted to overturn citizens united. there is an exciting result of montana as well. it looks like the new governor of montana, a democrat, a guy who was attorney general of montana, the person who went to the supreme court and fought to maintain montana's historic are on corporate money in politics. we have elected people who really do understand that we have got to overturn citizens united. i think is important to recognize in the new senate, bernie sanders but overturned -- it overturning citizens united an overwhelming thing. sherrod brown put it at the front of his agenda in ohio. tammy baldwin, a big supporter of the constitutional amendment,
6:52 pm
even the new senator from maine, a supporter of what can properly be described as aggressive, even radical, responses to money and politics. we ought to embrace this and make it the central theme of the next few months. this ought to be a movement that grows because it is clear, people want the change. >> one of the closely watched senate races was montana were voters ultimately decided to re- elect. >> it is an honor to accept your trust back to the united states senate. [applause] today has -- is an historic election in montana. tens of thousands of radio ads, tv commercials, fliers in the mail, many of them from big
6:53 pm
corporations who spent millions of dollars china by montana's vote. this victory is our victory. it proves that neither corporations nor billionaires' can buy the state of montana and by elections. >> that is the democratic senator who will go back to the senate. there were a number of firsts in your state, the of tammy baldwin who will be the first openly gay senator. she is from wisconsin in the first woman senator from wisconsin. there is mazie hirono, elected in white, the first asian- american woman elected to the senate, the first woman from hawaii elected in the senate, and the senate's first buddhist as well as the first u.s. senator born in japan -- in fact, fukushima, japan. >> incredible stories. do not forget huddie heitkamp of north dakota and a stake that voted overwhelmingly for mitt romney, a populist democrat urbl
6:54 pm
coalition. we have a lot of politics that occurred on november 6. we ought to not rush beyond. we ought to look at these people who beat big money and corporate power and recognize there is a cry out there from america for a better politics. >> john nichols, thank you for being with us, author of, "uprising: how wisconsin renewed the politics of protest, from madison to wall street." "democracy now!" covers movements, so we will be covering the movements that make a difference in this next term for president obama. we go now to breaking news in the case of accused army whistleblower bradley manning. on wednesday, he offered to submit a partial guilty plea on charges of leaking classified documents to wikileaks in return for the government agreeing to pursue lesser charges. his attorney said that bradley manning is prepared to plead guilty to some of the council and not the entire case as a whole. manning is reportedly ready to admit to leaking documents to
6:55 pm
wikileaks but is refusing to plead guilty to the charges of espionage or aiding the enemy. he has been held in military custody since may 2010 following his arrest while serving in iraq. for more we are joined by author of the book "private bradley manning." what is the latest you know, denver? >> it appears bradley manning has offered a plea on lesser charges. in essence, he is offered to concede he did provide information to wikileaks so that the amount of evidence the government would have to show to that fact would be lessened, presumably, in exchange for a lesser charge. he certainly has not pled guilty to the charges and to the espionage act or the charge of aiding the enemy that would cure the most severe penalties and that include -- that include
6:56 pm
serious offenses that he is not a meeting to. >> and so what happens next? he has been held for three years. what happens now saying he will admit to some of the rest? >> the judge in his pre court- martial proceeding will decide whether a ninth to consider this plea bargain. he has not come to a plea- bargain agreement with prosecutors. his attorney has unilaterally offered this deal. the judge will consider whether or not to take this into consideration. if the judge does, then it is possible that mr. man to be facing lesser charges. then of course, he'll have a court-martial. >> let me read to his attorney's the rights -- he is not
6:57 pm
submitting a plea as a deal with the government, the government does not need to agree, the court simply has to agree it is legally permissible. if the court allows him to plead guilty to substitutions, the government is still elect to prove the charge offenses. pleading not exceptions and substitutions does not change the offenses with which manning has been charged and for which he is scheduled to stand trial. that was from bradley manning's attorney. >> yes. >> will certainly continue to follow this case. thank you for being with us. that does it for today's broadcast. tonight i will be in chicago at the downtown campus.@ i would be speaking at 7:00 along with tavis smisley.
6:58 pm
-- tavis smiley and cornell west. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]
6:59 pm
tavis: good evening. from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. another historic night for barack obama. surprising many by easily winning the electoral college and